Savior

Savior appears rarely in the Gospels and Acts, but frequently in the general letters and the Pastoral Letters. Savior (σωτήρ, sōtēr) is also the meaning of the name Jesus (Hebrew יְשׁוּעַ, yeshua', “Yahweh saves”). The title typically refers to the role He will play in salvation when He returns at the parousia as Savior of the world. In Luke and Acts, the title is associated with the Davidic messianic line (Luke 2:11; Acts 13:23). In the Pastoral Letters, the title is attributed to Jesus and to God without any sort of systematic distinction (e.g., Titus 1:3–4). To call Jesus the Savior is functionally equivalent to calling God the Savior, since God enacted salvation by sending Jesus into the world. This title was an attribute of God in the Old Testament, and in the New Testament is also closely associated with the title kyrios (Cullman, The Christology of the New Testament, 238).